830M hungry – Africa, Asia suffer

Hunger caused by natural disasters, armed conflict and grinding poverty afflicts 830 million people throughout the world, the United Nations World Food Program says.

Parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are home to tens of millions of hungry people, mainly women and children, The New York Times reported Jan. 9.

Hunger is passed from generation to generation and the “combination of poverty and disaster causes people to have even less possibility to build resources to end their hunger,” said Catherine Bertini, the agency’s executive director.

Of the 830 million undernourished people, 791 million live in developing countries, the agency said, and 200 million are younger than age 5 and underweight for lack of food.